Virus cash eyed for the poor

The city would pay stipends to low-income New Yorkers who have to go into quarantine for coronavirus, under a bill set to be introduced in the City Council on Thursday.

“It’s very difficult for a New Yorker who receives pay on an hourly basis to decide between keeping themselves safe or keeping desperately needed income coming in,” Councilman Mark Levine (D-Manhattan), the bill’s prime sponsor, told the Daily News on Wednesday. “No one should have to make that choice.

“This could be a long difficult winter for COVID and we want to make sure everyone who needs to be at home can stay at home,” he added.

Stipends would go to people earning no more than 250% of the federal poverty standard and who contract the dreaded virus, show symptoms of it or provide care to someone who does — effectively meeting the city’s criteria for going into quarantine.

While the city hasn’t tracked the percentage of people who should be in quarantine who are actually following the guidelines, Levine (inset) believes some New Yorkers have been discouraged by the financial consequences of missing paychecks.

The city would work out the exact size of the stipends, he said, with the goal of covering rent, groceries and utilities, at minimum.

A Council estimate of the cost of the program was still forthcoming as of Wednesday.

The legislation comes during a protracted stalemate in Washington over the next round of stimulus funding for cities and states.

“This is critical to restarting our economy and ensuring we have a strong quarantine and isolation system,” said Levine, who chairs the Council’s Health Committee.